The Justice Department sued Arizona on Tuesday over a new state law requiring proof of citizenship to vote in presidential elections, saying the Republican-imposed restrictions are a “textbook violation” of federal law.
It is the third time the department under Attorney General Merrick B. Garland has challenged a state voting law and comes as Democratic leaders and voting rights groups press Mr. Garland to act more forcefully against the measures that limit access to the ballot.
The Arizona law, which Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, signed in March requires voters to prove their citizenship to vote in presidential elections, such as showing a birth certificate or passport. It also requires newly registered voters to provide proof of address, which may disproportionately affect people with limited access to government-issued ID cards. These include immigrants, students, seniors, low-income voters, and Native Americans.
“Arizona passed a law that turns back the clock by imposing illegal and unnecessary requirements that would block eligible voters from the registration rolls for certain federal elections,” Kristen Clark, assistant attorney general for the US Civil Rights Division, told reporters. Ministry of Justice. Tuesday.
Ms. Clark said that by imposing what she described as “onerous” requirements, the law “represents a textbook violation” of the National Voter Registration Act, which makes it easier to register to vote. The department said the law also conflicts with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which requires election officials to reject voter registration forms based on errors or omissions not relevant to the voter’s eligibility.
As of March, 31,500 “federal-only” voters could be barred from voting in the next presidential election under the new requirements if state officials fail to track down their information in time to validate their ballots.
Some voting rights groups say the number of affected voters could be even higher. But even a few thousand fewer votes could prove decisive in Arizona, one of the most contested states on the battleground: In 2020, Joseph R. Biden Jr. defeated President Donald J. Trump in Arizona by about 10,000 votes.
A spokesman for Mr. Ducey did not immediately respond to requests for comment. When he signed the bill in March, Mr. Ducey said the law, expected to take effect in January, was “a balanced approach that honors Arizona’s history of making voting accessible without sacrificing the security of our elections.”
Arizona has been at the center of some of the most contested battles of the 2020 election. Six months after the election, the Republican-led Senate authorized an outside review of Maricopa County’s election, an unusual step that quickly became a breeding ground for conspiracy theorists. The state also passed a slew of laws that imposed new voting restrictions.
Even before the Republican-controlled Legislature passed the measure, existing state law required all voters to provide proof of citizenship to vote in state elections. Federal voter registration forms still required voters to certify that they were citizens, but not to provide documentary proof.
In 2013, the Supreme Court upheld that law, but added that Arizona must adopt the federal voter registration form for federal elections. This essentially created a bifurcated system in Arizona that would require documented proof of citizenship to vote in state elections, but allow those who simply sign up for federal voter registration to be able to vote in federal elections.
The new law could jeopardize those voter registrations, preventing tens of thousands of them from voting in the presidential election, voting rights groups say.
“There will certainly be some people in Arizona who will not be able to vote under the proof of citizenship requirement,” said John Greenbaum, general counsel of the nonpartisan Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under the Act and a former attorney at the Department of Justice.
While the new law would have ripple effects for many groups, local election officials noted that providing documentary proof of citizenship could be especially difficult among the Native American population, which was key to helping Arizona turn over to Mr. Biden in 2020
“You may have people who were born on reservations who may not have birth certificates and therefore it may be very difficult to somehow prove citizenship on paper,” said Adrian Fontes, former administrator of elections for Maricopa County and current Democratic nominee for Secretary of State. “Things of this nature have always been a major concern for election administrators in Arizona.”
In June 2021, the department sued Georgia over the new voting law, which overhauled the state’s election administration and introduced numerous restrictions on voting in the state, particularly voting by mail. In November, the department sued Texas over a provision limiting aid available to voters at the polls.
Mark Elias, a Democratic election lawyer who represented a group that sued Arizona earlier this year, said he was relieved to see the department follow through on Mr. Biden’s promise last year to counter the threat of Republican-sponsored state laws, which he called “the most significant test of democracy” since the Civil War.
“Adding the voice and authority of the United States is incredibly helpful in the fight for voting rights,” Mr. Elias said in an interview.
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